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Dialogue Education at Work: A Case Book
In her landmark book Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach , celebrated adult educator Jane Vella outlined twelve principles of Dialogue Education, an approach to learning as a holistic, integrated, spiritual, and energetic process. Since the book was first published, her learning principles have been used in a wide variety of adult learning settings, in different countries and with different educational purposes, clearly demonstrating that these principles can be used successfully with any type of adult learner, anywhere.
Dialogue Education at Work is the companion book to Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach . This is the first book to show how educators worldwide have used Vella's methods to transform their classrooms and organizations into vital places of learning. Written for adult educators, staff developers, leaders of community service organizations, volunteer coordinators, and vocational trainers, Dialogue Education at Work is filled with illustrative case studies from a broad range of organizations that show how to put Vella's principles into action.
Dialogue Education at Work is the companion book to Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach . This is the first book to show how educators worldwide have used Vella's methods to transform their classrooms and organizations into vital places of learning. Written for adult educators, staff developers, leaders of community service organizations, volunteer coordinators, and vocational trainers, Dialogue Education at Work is filled with illustrative case studies from a broad range of organizations that show how to put Vella's principles into action.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published October 31, 2003
9 people want to read
About the author
Jane Vella
18 books2 followersJANE VELLA is adjunct professor at the School of Public Health of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also CEO of Global Learning Partners, a consulting and training company that has grown out of JUBILEE Popular Education Center.
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November 19, 2015
1. Overview
This is the second of Jane Vella’s books I have read. The first was Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach: The Power of Dialogue in Educating Adults (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002). As I read “Dialogue Education at Work, I was challenged once again to intentionally adopt several principles in my instructional design and ministry to university students.
Vella began to codify her holistic and integrated principles of learning and adult education while in Tanzania, a truly cross-cultural setting. She set out to implement the ideas of Paulo Freire, a man she met in Tanzania in 1968. Through these principles, Vella has educated adults in many cultures and for many different groups, mostly community development projects. As with her first book, she has demonstrated in this book the universality of the principles as they are applied in various settings. This is a compilation of case studies with application of the principles of dialogue education in the university setting, the public sector and not-for-profit organizations, and in international education.
Vella draws out the fundamental human desire to make connection with others. She builds her principles for dialogue on the notion that humankind has always sought to engage in real conversation, “talking about things that matter most to us.” Incorporating these primal ideas, she writes, “people do not need as much instruction in dialogue as they need encouragement to remember it.”
2. Proactive Questions:
a. What new insights have will I gain from this book?
In keeping with the spirit of dialogue, Vella has again produced a book with several case studies, stories telling us what happened at the various learning events. This principle of story-telling is fundamental to dialogue.
I see better now how these principles may be useful, not only in the design of training, but in the leadership of an organization. This principle was effectively documented in several of the case studies.
b. Which case study will I find most interesting?
When I found the case study on dialogue education for the many volunteers and staff at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union, I naturally paid close attention to that one. I know several Christian leaders at the UW, however I do not know of any of the people who are involved in leadership at the Union. One of the students I have been counseling has been struggling as a member of the Multi-cultural center at the UW, especially because of the sensitivity training she has undergone with regard to some homosexuals she has made friends with on at the Center. She fears disclosing her Christian faith for fear that she will be labeled intolerant. The UW seems to apply the principles of tolerance for all groups on campus, except those who profess a faith in Christ. Our association of Christian student group leaders has, however, recently overcome a major obstacle by creating an “acceptable” template for Christian student organization constitutions.
I am very curious how “dialogue” has played a part in that recent victory.
c. What should I incorporate into my invitations to lecture?
Learning tasks were always for the purpose of content processing, not for content discovery. I used this technique this morning while teaching on Calvin in our School of the Bible. I first assessed the needs by asking all the participants to list one thing they know about Calvin and one thing they want to know. They paired off and shared with each other. Then each pair reported shared with the class and I listed them on the board. Once we ascertained the "needs", I outlined some of the questions that loom large regarding Calvin - the contrasts in his character, calling, and theology between his soteriology and his cosmology.
They paired off again and I gave them their learning task. I distributed several different articles about Calvin and asked them to quickly scan the documents to find answers to their questions, especially as they relate to the "contrasts." This learning task engaged the students and created a dialogue in the learning process. I exhorted them all to be like Calvin; to apply what they are learning in the school to their life and work. Unfortunately I am not there to confirm the "So What?"
3. Summary.
Vella’s vision is to encourage experimentation with the forms of dialogue education in various settings around the world. While I continue to look for ways in which the Teacher, the Holy Spirit, may be more deliberately included in the learning process, I have already begun to make use of the principles of dialogue education in my leadership team meetings, my lectures, and my instructional design.
As I read this book, I realized that I needed to go back and review Vella’s first book. I looked again at the need to encourage my staff to participate in the process of writing their own job descriptions. For each of the seven steps I am considering the different approaches for our different programs, depending on the participants, the outcomes, the context, the content, and how learning can be measured and sequenced for greatest effectiveness.
This is the second of Jane Vella’s books I have read. The first was Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach: The Power of Dialogue in Educating Adults (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002). As I read “Dialogue Education at Work, I was challenged once again to intentionally adopt several principles in my instructional design and ministry to university students.
Vella began to codify her holistic and integrated principles of learning and adult education while in Tanzania, a truly cross-cultural setting. She set out to implement the ideas of Paulo Freire, a man she met in Tanzania in 1968. Through these principles, Vella has educated adults in many cultures and for many different groups, mostly community development projects. As with her first book, she has demonstrated in this book the universality of the principles as they are applied in various settings. This is a compilation of case studies with application of the principles of dialogue education in the university setting, the public sector and not-for-profit organizations, and in international education.
Vella draws out the fundamental human desire to make connection with others. She builds her principles for dialogue on the notion that humankind has always sought to engage in real conversation, “talking about things that matter most to us.” Incorporating these primal ideas, she writes, “people do not need as much instruction in dialogue as they need encouragement to remember it.”
2. Proactive Questions:
a. What new insights have will I gain from this book?
In keeping with the spirit of dialogue, Vella has again produced a book with several case studies, stories telling us what happened at the various learning events. This principle of story-telling is fundamental to dialogue.
I see better now how these principles may be useful, not only in the design of training, but in the leadership of an organization. This principle was effectively documented in several of the case studies.
b. Which case study will I find most interesting?
When I found the case study on dialogue education for the many volunteers and staff at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union, I naturally paid close attention to that one. I know several Christian leaders at the UW, however I do not know of any of the people who are involved in leadership at the Union. One of the students I have been counseling has been struggling as a member of the Multi-cultural center at the UW, especially because of the sensitivity training she has undergone with regard to some homosexuals she has made friends with on at the Center. She fears disclosing her Christian faith for fear that she will be labeled intolerant. The UW seems to apply the principles of tolerance for all groups on campus, except those who profess a faith in Christ. Our association of Christian student group leaders has, however, recently overcome a major obstacle by creating an “acceptable” template for Christian student organization constitutions.
I am very curious how “dialogue” has played a part in that recent victory.
c. What should I incorporate into my invitations to lecture?
Learning tasks were always for the purpose of content processing, not for content discovery. I used this technique this morning while teaching on Calvin in our School of the Bible. I first assessed the needs by asking all the participants to list one thing they know about Calvin and one thing they want to know. They paired off and shared with each other. Then each pair reported shared with the class and I listed them on the board. Once we ascertained the "needs", I outlined some of the questions that loom large regarding Calvin - the contrasts in his character, calling, and theology between his soteriology and his cosmology.
They paired off again and I gave them their learning task. I distributed several different articles about Calvin and asked them to quickly scan the documents to find answers to their questions, especially as they relate to the "contrasts." This learning task engaged the students and created a dialogue in the learning process. I exhorted them all to be like Calvin; to apply what they are learning in the school to their life and work. Unfortunately I am not there to confirm the "So What?"
3. Summary.
Vella’s vision is to encourage experimentation with the forms of dialogue education in various settings around the world. While I continue to look for ways in which the Teacher, the Holy Spirit, may be more deliberately included in the learning process, I have already begun to make use of the principles of dialogue education in my leadership team meetings, my lectures, and my instructional design.
As I read this book, I realized that I needed to go back and review Vella’s first book. I looked again at the need to encourage my staff to participate in the process of writing their own job descriptions. For each of the seven steps I am considering the different approaches for our different programs, depending on the participants, the outcomes, the context, the content, and how learning can be measured and sequenced for greatest effectiveness.
Displaying 1 of 1 review